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Vehicle sales down slightly in July

Aug. 5, 2014 – Vehicle sale numbers decreased slightly in July, but NAFCU Research Assistant Doug Christman still called the month’s data evidence of a continuing trend of healthy sales.

Christman analyzed data from Autodata Corp. for a Macro Data Flash and found that total vehicle sales decreased from 16.9 million annualized units in June to 16.5 million in July. However, sales were still up 4.9 percent from a year before.

“July marks the fifth consecutive month of healthy sales, and the small decline from June’s sales pace should not detract from the overall positive trend in the vehicle market,” Christman wrote. “Pent-up demand, a strengthening labor market and healthy manufacturer incentives continue to help boost vehicle sales. Overall, vehicle sales have been a key driver in the economic recovery and are expected to continue supporting the economy throughout the year.”

Car sales went down from 8.3 million annualized units in June to 8 million in July, and light truck sales also decreased slightly – going from 8.6 million annualized units in June to 8.5 million in July.

Five out of the six largest automakers reported increases in year-over-year sales numbers, with Chrysler experiencing the largest gain in sales, 19.7 percent, and Honda seeing a decline of 3.9 percent. The U.S. brand share of the total vehicle market went down from 46.2 percent in June to 44.1 percent in July, and the share of domestically assembled vehicles also dropped slightly from 80 percent to 79.2 percent.